Monday shop post - Miriam Bereson Australia

This week's shop post is more a reminder for me to get along to this newish store more than anything else. I was reading The Sunday Age 'M' magazine lift-out and was so pleased to come across a little article that points out that Miriam Bereson Australia now has a shopfront/showroom, 'Miriam Bereson and Friends' at 70 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea.

I am a great fan of Ms Bereson's yearly planner.  I stick one up inside my pantry door at the start of each year and don't know how I lived without this planner before it came along.  So it's lovely to know that I can now go direct to the 'source' to get my planner.

Apparently the new shopfront opened in August and it stocks not only Miriam Bereson's predominantly paper products, but also the goods of a few other select independent designers.

Miriam Bereson products include... The yearly planner:

'Collective nouns' prints:

Mirror art:

Other Miriam Bereson products include a family calendar, alphabet frieze, numbers frieze, height chart, magnetic pads, magnetic objects, a birthday calendar and library bags.

The shop also sells...Only Midge handbags, Kid O childrens toys:

Klei porcelain jewellery:

Tightology tights and leggings:

Poppies for Grace stationery:

I think I'll definitely have to drop by Miriam Bereson soon to pick up my yearly planner and do a bit of Christmas shopping.  If you can't make it to the store, all Miriam Bereson and Kid O products are available online. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I still like to do a bit of hands-on shopping.

(Images: 1-4 - Miriam Bereson; 5 - Klei; 6 - Tightology; 7-9 - Poppies for Grace)

Starry, starry...

The closer it gets to Christmas, the more I'm enjoying stars...

Images: 1 - Bridget Baxter; 2 & 3 - Bungalow; 4 - Cafe Cartolina; 5 - Country Living; 6 & 7 - Design Sponge; 8 - Graham & Green; 9 - I Suwannee.

Thanks & 7 things

Well, this is a first for me - a blogging award!  The lovely Annie over at A View on Design has bestowed this very nice award on my little blog.  A big 'thank you' Annie, I really appreciate.  So, here's the idea behind the award:


1.Thank the person who gave you the award. (Done with pleasure)

2.Copy the Award. (See above)

3.Post it in your blog. (Here tis!)

4. Tell us 7 things that your readers don't know. (See below)

5. Link 7 new bloggers as recipients. (I'm too shy to do this, and at the end of a very long and busy week I'm just a wee bit too tired to even make my brain think about it)

6. Notify winners of award with comment on their blog.

7. Keep being Awesome.

Seven things you don't know about me (but obviously now do):

1. I am a voracious reader - I'll read the paper from back to front every day, the back of the Weeties box, the junk mail, countless magazine articles, highbrow literature, lowbrow stuff, fiction, non-fiction. You name it, I'll read it, but I draw the line at reading science fiction. Can't stand it.
2. Despite #1, I really enjoy watching science fiction movies.
3. I am profoundly deaf in my left ear and have less than 50% hearing ability in my right ear (so obviously I use subtitles when watching those science fiction movies).
4. I have a 'black thumb' in the garden, but slowly but surely I'm trying to learn more about gardening.
5. I am not artistic in the least, but I do enjoy making lino cuts - I find it very therapeutic digging out bits of line with sharp little tools. Sad I know. A pic of one of my lino cuts is below. (Well, I did warn you, I have very little artistic ability).
6. My credit card takes a battering because I have a terrible weakness for well-made leather shoes (preferably Italian).
7. Each day I try my very best to give thanks for at least one thing.

Have a lovely weekend.  Lee :)

Window seat finally covered

I'm so pleased, I've finally managed to finish one decorating job, and now I only have about 20 or so to go!  I finally got around to choosing some fabric for the new bench seat that my husband built in our bedroom and I got an upholsterer to cover it for me.  The seat has loads of storage space in it - which we've already filled to the brim!

I chose a neutral linen with a fine olive check through it.  I'm really happy with the results - it looks much better than it does in these pictures (the crappy camera has got to go!!).  And whilst I have plans for sitting here reading and chatting on the phone etc., in reality I know that this seat will become a repository for all those clothes we're too lazy to re-hang or put in the laundry basket each evening. Oh well, as long as we pick them up and launder/hang them in the morning all should be okay.

 Please excuse the view out the window and the dodgy carpet - we're waiting to finish the renovations in our son's bedroom before we replace all the carpet in the house, so in the meantime we have to make do with the old carpet that has been cut away to accommodate the new window seat and the new built-in robes in our bedroom.

I quite like the fine olive green check in the fabric - green is definitely one of my favourite colours.

Now on to the next decorating job - an awning and a new sun lounge for the back deck I think.

P.S. I must remember to take 'before' shots.  This was a horrible dead space before we put the window seat in, and even though it doesn't look 100% now, it looks a whole lot better than it used to.

Monday shop post - Lark Handmade & My Bookshop

Busy, busy day...and unfortunately very little time to think about shops & shopping...but luckily enough two very design savvy bloggers have brought to my attention two new shops that I really do want to check out sometime soon.

Natalie Walton over at the always inspirational Daily Imprint has a great interview with Allison Jones who has opened the lovely Lark Handmade in Daylesford.  You can check out the interview and some lovely pics of the shop here.

Image from Daily Imprint

And the ever-beautiful Melbourne blog Haven Home has introduced me to the new shop 'My Bookshop' that has recently opened in Hawksburn Village. I drove right past it on Saturday and was craning my neck to get a quick second glance as I drove past - unfortunately I was on my way elsewhere and didn't have time to stop, but I'm definitely going to pop in there next weekend.  You can find out more about this lovely new bookshop right here.

Image from Haven Home

Missing my brogues

The Sartorialist

Many, many moons ago I had a pair of very deep navy blue suede brogues and I simply adored them - I wore them with shorts in summer and skirts and tights in winter. I wore them until the leather soles were just about worn through and my feet were feeling more pavement than shoe sole...and then...I threw them out.

When I see this picture I think...What on earth possessed me to throw them out?!? They were probably looking a bit shabby, but I should have had my brogues resoled and gently pushed them to the back of the wardrobe until they could have their 'time in the sun' once again. I loved those brogues and wish I could have the exact same pair of shoes again.

Have you ever thrown something out only to regret it later?  Or am I the only one that's a bit of a dill??

Adorable flowers

Quite a few bloggers seem to post 'Friday Flowers', so just for this week I thought I'd join in the fun.

Lots of beautiful flowers, leaves and succulents from fabulous Melbourne/Mornington Peninsula based floral designer Kate Main of 'Soil'...

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of laughter, sunshine and flowers.

(All images: Soil)

Two art exhibitions

I am so looking forward to this weekend - my sister and I are going to two art exhibitions. The first is one of my all-time favourite artists, Cressida Campbell, and the second is one of my sister's favourite artists, Judy Drew. Unfortunately we don't have nearly enough pennies in our piggy banks to actually purchase paintings by these two fabulous artists, but of course that doesn't stop us looking, drooling and dreaming. Here's just a wee example of some of the works produced by these two amazing women.

Cressida Campbell's woodblock paintings...

Interior with red ginger

Daisies and camellia

White waratah

Judy Drew creates the most beautiful still life pictures and portraits in pastels that look as though they are straight out of the 1920s and '30s. These are some of the pieces of art that we will see at her exhibition at the Melbourne Fine Art Gallery this weekend:

Still life with chrysanthemums

Still life in purple, black and ochre

Woman in gold satin gown

A designing woman

If you're in Melbourne, and you're interested in taking in these exhibitions, or you'd just like to take a look at the gallery websites, the details are as follows:

Cressida Campbell exhibition

Sophie Gannon Gallery

2 Albert Street, Richmond

18th November - 12th December

Judy Drew exhibition

'Expressions through colour'

Melbourne Fine Art Gallery

422 Bourke Street, Melbourne

(Images 1-4: Cressida Campbell; Images 5-8: Melbourne Fine Art Gallery)

Monday shop post - Seasonal Concepts

This amazing shop is in Sydney. I want it to be in Melbourne (so, so badly), but it's in Sydney!  Oh well, I'll just make sure I put it on my 'must visit' list for the next time I'm in Sydney.

Seasonal Concepts is described by owner Ken Wallis on the store's site as "a premier destination retailer specialising in innovative floral design and unique oldwares". In addition to retail they also hire out stock as props for store/event displays and photo shoots.  I can only imagine that all the Sydney stylists adore this place.  Here's why...

Seasonal Concepts' artfully displayed goods are categorised (by them) as follows:

Decorative items...

Natural curiosities...

Furniture...

Kitchen...

Pottery & vases...

Garden and garage...

Industrial...

Don't you think it would be lovely to fossick around in a store with such unique, eccentric pieces both big and small?  Be sure to check out Seasonal Concepts' site, there are many more beautiful images of their stock just waiting to be seen.

All images from Seasonal Concepts.